The power of Ad Blocker
Different people have different options about Ad Blocker. For advertisers, agencies and publishers, they HATE it. But for consumers, or just internet users, we LOVE Ad Blocker. The reason is very simple: Ad Blocker keeps us away from annoying ads on the internet that interrupt our viewing experience.
I installed Ad Blocker the minute when I got my chrome browser. For those who never heard of it or install it, I can do a quick demo to show you how it works.
This is a simple test I ran on Bloomberg website. As you can see, on the left is the screenshot I took using Ad Blocker on my browser. On the right is the same website but turning off the Ad Blocker.
For users like us, this little plug-in brings a better viewing experience when we read news and articles or watch videos from the publishers (like Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Buzzfeed etc).
However, we might not acknowledge the fact that many free content on the internet (articles, news and videos) are powering by advertisers who want to get views and traffic for their products or business. Publishers need advertisers’ money to continue creating valuable, insightful and entertaining content.
The war between Ad Blocker and online advertising goes beyond the browser. This year’s TechCrunch Disrupt invited the CEO of Ad Block Plus, Till Faida, and the CEO of IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau), Randall Rothenberg. They refused to appear on the same stage during the event. Two organizations represent the opposite beneficiary parties. Rothenberg expressed his option about Ad Blocker, “this is an extortion-based business and hurts publishers.” while Faida shared his vision on the online advertising ecosystem, “We have to evolve business models on the web and we have to put users in the center of that model.”
Facing new challenges like Ad Blocker, advertisers, agencies and publishers need to think of new ways to effectively connect to consumer on the internet.
